How to Insert Tickbox in Word 2007
My blog readers often send me emails and ask about different tips and tricks about Word Processing to improve their skills to create more professional documents. After a long time I have received an email in which one of my blog readers has asked a very interesting question that is how to insert Checkbox in Word 2007?
I always try to keep my Word Processing Tutorials very short and easy to understand, but inserting checkbox into a word documents involves some extra steps. So this tutorial might be a bit lengthy. To make this tutorial easier I have used snapshots of the different stages. I hope it would help you to quickly memorize the steps to insert Checkbox in Word 2007. Before creating the checkbox I would recommend you to do the following;
Show Developer Tab in The Ribbon
- Click the “Office Button” located at the top left corner of Word 2007
- Click “Word Options”, doing this will open the Word Options Dialog Box
- Click “Popular” on the left side of the dialog box and click the checkbox at left of “Show Developer tab in the Ribbon” (as shown in the picture)
I would recommend you to use a table to properly align checkboxes with the text. Follow the steps below;
- Go to “Insert” tab in the Ribbon and click “Table”
- Enter “2” in the column box
- Enter the number for rows according to your need. 1 row is needed for every item in your list
- We will adjust the layout of the table cells at a later stage
For this example I am using 5 rows. Insert as many rows as you want and enter the text in the right column (see the picture below).
Add Checkboxes in Left Column
- Click the top left cell of the table you created
- Now we need to use the “Developer” tab in the top ribbon. Go to the developer tab and click “Legacy Tools”. You will see a dropdown menu. Click the "Checkbox Form Field"
- By default the checkbox background is gray, to remove background color click Legacy tools again and in the dropdown menu click “Form Field Shading” (see the picture)
- Now go to the second cell in the left column and press “Ctrl+y”. This will insert a new checkbox in the current cell. Repeat the same in every cell in left column
Adjust the Layout
In the table shown above there is unwanted space between the text and the checkboxes. Moreover you might want to remove the border of the table. So it is the time to adjust the layout of the table.
- Right click the table and click “AutoFit” and then click “AutoFit to Contents” as shown in the snapshot below
- Again right click the table, go to “Table Properties” and then click the “Table” tab
- Now click “Options” add some space for margins, see the picture for example, you can increase or decrease this space according to your need. Click “OK” when you are done
- Now click ”Borders and Shading” in the same Table Properties Dialog box’s Table tab
- In the “Borders” tab click “None” under the “Setting” and click “OK”
To check off the items in your list by clicking in the checkboxes you created, you need to lock the form. Please keep in mind, after locking the form you will not be able to make any changes to text and layout without unlocking it again. So check your text twice before this step.
- Again go to the “Developer” tab and click “Protect Document”. It will open a dropdown menu. Now click “Restrict Formatting and Editing”
- You will see “Protect Document Task Pan” at the right end of your computer screen
- Under “Editing Restrictions” select “Allow only this type of editing in the document”
- From the dropdown list select “Filling in Form”
- Under “Start Enforcement” click the button that says “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection”
- System will ask you to type a password. It is optional to assign a password, but I would highly recommend you to use this feature. Otherwise anyone can make changes to your document
Congratulations!! Now you know that how to Insert Checkbox in Word 2007.
